Interview under caution

[Sabbath78]

Hi All

Thank you for your guidance

I cooperated during the interview providing both the correct postal address both reliable and secure and email, checking junk/spam mail box regularly

I am due to be out of the country for 10 days

Presumably a settlement is still a realistic option/possibility

 

[WesternLancer]

Presumably a settlement is still a realistic option/possibility

I would think so - yes, just because they have taken a long time to write to you does not automatically mean they regard it as more serious than other cases they might be dealing with - I would assume just volume of workload.

IIRC your situation is forgot that your railcard had expired - as opposed to deliberate evasion - so certainly the type of circs they would tend to resolve out of court.

 

[Hadders]

Many train companies are experiencing some significant delays in processing cases at the moment.

 

[Sabbath78]

Thank you all for your advice and guidance which is appreciated

I am going to be out of the country from 2-11 October inclusive

Presumably it wouldn’t be advisable to contact GWR but I am concerned that in the event that a letter is delivered during that time I don’t want it perceived that I am ignoring any correspondence as it is my intention to cooperate fully

Do you know if rail companies give any leeway or consideration if their is a delay in responding in situations such as being out of the country

I have a draft letter ready using the template from this site

Best Regards

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you all for your advice and guidance which is appreciated

I am going to be out of the country from 2-11 October inclusive

Presumably it wouldn’t be advisable to contact GWR but I am concerned that in the event that a letter is delivered during that time I don’t want it perceived that I am ignoring any correspondence as it is my intention to cooperate fully

Do you know if rail companies give any leeway or consideration if their is a delay in responding in situations such as being out of the country

I have a draft letter ready using the template from this site

Best Regards

I suspect a delay of that sort of timescale isn’t going to be something that will cause a problem with them.

Though if you have a trusted friend who could check your post when you were away that might solve the issue for you? They could e mail you about any post that then arrived.

 

[Sabbath78]

Over 6 months have elapsed and to date I have yet to hear from GWR either via email nor post

I cooperated fully by providing correct email address and postal address

Junk folder is checked regularly and my post is secure and reliable

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Over 6 months have elapsed and to date I have yet to hear from GWR either via email nor post

I cooperated fully by providing correct email address and postal address

Junk folder is checked regularly and my post is secure and reliable

Almost certainly you are clear of the risk of prosecution for the time you were caught: there's a small possibility that the prosecution papers are still on their way from the court to you, but come back to us and we will try to help if that happens.

But what the railway companies have started doing recently is asking for repayment of longer standing wrong fares. We have yet to see one of these run right through to the end so we can't say whether the railway will take things like this to (civil, not criminal) court or not: our current best advice is not to respond to any letters or emails about this - and ask us to see if we can help.

 

[Sabbath78]

Almost certainly you are clear of the risk of prosecution for the time you were caught: there's a small possibility that the prosecution papers are still on their way from the court to you, but come back to us and we will try to help if that happens.

But what the railway companies have started doing recently is asking for repayment of longer standing wrong fares. We have yet to see one of these run right through to the end so we can't say whether the railway will take things like this to (civil, not criminal) court or not: our current best advice is not to respond to any letters or emails about this - and ask us to see if we can help.

Once again thank you for your guidance and advice which I will heed

I appreciate one cannot say for certain but is there still the likelihood of a settlement or has that passed

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Once again thank you for your guidance and advice which I will heed

I appreciate one cannot say for certain but is there still the likelihood of a settlement or has that passed

Assuming that I am right that there will be no prosecution then there's no need to settle for the time you were caught - the railway no longer can threaten to take you to criminal court, so you have nothing to gain by giving them money.

 

[WesternLancer]

Once again thank you for your guidance and advice which I will heed

I appreciate one cannot say for certain but is there still the likelihood of a settlement or has that passed

Well if they come in future asking for payment in the context of seeking the money owed as a civil debt you could pay that to prevent civil court action against you I would assume. A sort of settlement I presume.

But in that scenario they can’t hold the threat of criminal court action over you with the consequential criminal record for the guilty verdict that would ensue.

So how you then engage with them might be rather different and advise on options from here might be different so whatever they do contact you with, head here if you want information or advice etc.

We’ve seen a small number of these civil action threads with GWR recently but the annoying thing is they can involve tickets well over a year in the past so it may be months before you could get contacted out of the blue in that scenario.

So keep all your evidence about past tickets and copies of old railcard evidence that you mentioned earlier and keep that safe long term as it will help you to have it if ever needed.